Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction; US Historical Fiction; Action/Adventure
Date Published: March 20, 2026
Narrator: John McLain
Run Time: 9 Hours and 46 Minutes
With all the swagger of a classic western, a legendary buffalo claims his rightful place among the genre's most iconic heroes.
Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.
The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails, slicing through the earth. Extinction
seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie. Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all pointed at Rathuun.
Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the prairie?
Welcome to the prairie!
Interview with David Fitz-Gerald
Author of Rathuun: King of the Prairie
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
Last summer, I made a trip out west and the highlights were numerous. I wanted to get lots of great buffalo pictures, and videos, and Lamar Valley in Yellowstone is the best place to just park and watch them. Beyond that, I drove back and forth along the Sweetwater River Valley which is the setting for my next western series, "The Frontier Adventures of Alvah Nye," and also serves as the home base for my "brand" which I hope folks who visit my website experience. And my favorite town in the world is Cody Wyoming. So I was in heaven, staying at the historic Irma Hotel, visiting the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum, and firing an heirloom pistol at the Cody Firearms Experience. I didn't get to the nightly rodeo this trip, but I've been plenty of times in the past. You can bet I'll be back.
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
Brucellosis. Maybe you've heard of Undulant fever. It's a bacterial disease that spreads through the herd, causing reproductive problems for buffalo. I came to think of it as a venereal disease for buffalo. The challenge was to write about it from a buffalo's point of view, incorporate it into an action/adventure story, and keep it mostly PG. Frankly, there are far more exciting plot points in Rathuun: King of the Prairie. But buffalo have to keep it real.
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
Most of my stories are set along a trail in the American West, and Rathuun is the epitome of that. The herd migrates past our most iconic western landmarks, and the table of contents reads like a bucket list challenge for folks who want to see them all. I tried to give the reader a sense of those places, and sometimes even an idea of what the grass tastes like there. In addition to getting the places right, I work hard to make sure the 19th century technologies are properly placed. So many things were invented in the 1800s, but it's sometimes tricky to remember which came in what decade. If I slip up, I know I'm going to hear about it!
Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.
Absolutely! It has kind of turned into a family business. I like to say I was a "top hand" on my grandfather's Adirondack dude ranch before I was ten. I wrote about it in my first book, In the Shadow of a Giant. My aunt was head wrangler. I caught western fever from them and I've never been cured of it. In addition to being an entrepreneur, my grandfather was an artist, and a preacher. Maybe some of that influence can be found in the pages of my books. And now my kid is an author too, just finishing book number five. Did I forget to mention my editor is also my cousin?
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
Yes. I'm very committed to consistently delivering Frontier and Pioneer Western Fiction.
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
In the past, I have written historical fiction set in other time periods. In addition to the 19th century, I'm also fascinated by ancient history, and could write again in those pre-Columbian times. Two of my books are set in the 20th century, but I doubt I'll write beyond 1900 again. There is a project rattling around in my head. It's a western horror story called The Day Buffalo Stampeded Sanctuary Nebraska. Rathuun readers experience this from the buffalo's perspective. But I might find myself telling that stroy from the citizens' point of view.
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
The honest answer is always the one I'm writing right now. At the moment that's Alvah Nye, the hero of my new series The Frontier Adventures of Alvah Nye. Alvah has a heart for adventure and a soul for putting down roots, which makes him a walking contradiction and a lot of fun to write. Rathuun holds a special place too, and the years I spent living as Dorcas Moon along the Oregon Trail or Seph Vermillion on the Chisholm Trail were loads of fun as well. But experiencing the good old troublesome west as Alvah Nye is a dream come true. That said, I've got a couple of colorful characters I'm itching to turn into protagonists, namely Tumbleweed Tillie and Waxy Woodruff. We'll see about them...
Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.
He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.
Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from MY FRIEND FLICKA, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.
Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.
Contact Links
https://mybook.to/RathuunKingofPrairie
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